Snow Storm - Mar 2010

Second Snow Storm for Spring 2010:
Spring officially began on the
20th of March, and this storm (on the 24th of March, 2010) marks our second storm for the season. Just like the last storm (on the 19th of March), this storm was preceded by unusually warm weather. On the 22nd, the temperature (where our house is located) climbed all the way up into the high 60s (fahrenheit). The high was 67 on the 22nd of March, and the low on the 23rd sank down to 25 degress. The day after the warm streak, the storm began. It started with overcast conditions, then rain, thunder, lightning, and finally hail. The precipitation switch back and forth from rain, to hail, and sleet, several times. Around 4PM, the rain switched over to snow. The drive home (around 5PM) was difficult. The snow, fog, and wind made for very poor visibility. By 8PM the snow was really coming down. By the time I went to bed (at 10PM), we already had 8 inches of snow. It snowed throughout the evening, and well into the next day.

When it finally stopped snowing (around 1PM on the 24th), we'd accumulated appx 12 inches in our neighborhood (South-east Aurora). Clearing that driveway was quite a chore. The snow was extremely wet and heavy. My little Yard King/Murray/Tecumseh Snow Thrower just couldn't handle it. I struggled for over an hour to clear a quarter of the driveway. When the gas ran out, I finally fired up my new Ariens/Briggs & Stratton Sno-Thro. That bad-boy has a much larger engine, a bigger intake, and a six speed drive system. Once I got the new snow blower running, I was able to clear the driveway and sidewalks with minimal effort.

Yup, spring is here! I even took a few pictures on the 24th. I used the new camera (A Panasonic DMC-FZ35), and created a little web page using iPhoto's export capability.